Perhaps the entire storming of the legislature has been one giant "show." Whether or not the actors are entirely conscious of their parts, yet the machine that governs the society is still functioning.

Taiwan must survive. It's not just democracy. It's not just five thousand years of culture. It's not just sweet-smelling hills and rivers like perfume. Nor is it cliffs like granite collapsing into oceans like glittering marble.

It sounds like a scene from a horror movie: injecting rabies into beagle puppies and watching as they succumb to one of the most miserable of diseases. This isn't fiction. It's a cruel experiment that is real and imminent.

While the June summit between Obama and Chinese President Xi reportedly covered significant ground on cyber-espionage, North Korea's nuclear program and free trade, one issue that received little attention was the intensification of territorial disputes between China and its neighbors.

Why does Taiwan matter? Firstly, it is one of America's top trading partners. And Taiwan also has our back militarily. So why is it that the last sitting American president to set foot on the island was Dwight Eisenhower?